Smiling Eyes
by S c h e m a t i c
Summary: Temari doesn't know what she's done to deserve this, but she's glad she met her. [Temari/Hinata]


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

* * *

 **Smiling Eyes**

 _1._

The first time she lays eyes on her, she automatically dismisses her as someone she doesn't want to know. The girl with pale lilac eyes is staring at the ground, her forefingers touching with a small, barely noticeable frown on her face. The blush that stains her cheeks like cherries almost makes Temari want to investigate, but then the girl stutters, and all interest Temari may have had evaporates in a second.

She can't _stand_ girls like that, the ones that always look down instead of forward, the ones that automatically apologise instead of asking _why_. It's because she could've _been_ like that, if she'd let herself.

So instead of reaching out to the girl to ask her _what's wrong_ or _are you okay_ , she turns around immediately, because if a girl can't help herself, what's the point in helping her?

* * *

 _2._

The second time she lays eyes on her, the girl with the lilac eyes is sitting on an empty bench with her hands clasped in her lap. Her long hair is swaying peacefully with the wind, and that's the first time Temari really _notices_ her, because she doesn't look like a trembling puppy. She looks calm and reassured in her element, as if she's been reawakened from a dream.

She steps closer to the girl and looks for a while, raking her eyes up and down her body and cataloguing the various bruises she spies on her legs, neck and parts of her hands.

The girl works hard, which Temari can respect.

That's why she steps forward, clears her throat and says, "Hi."

* * *

 _3._

The girl flinches—obviously she had been in her own little world, which Temari disapproves of (you never know who will walk up behind you to stab you in the back)—and looks up. Her eyes are impossibly wide, and Temari absently notes that there's no pupil. They're beautiful regardless.

"He-he-hello," the girl stutters out, and her cheeks flush in embarrassment. It's a gradual reddening of the cheeks, which slowly blossoms from the centre, spreading and reaching towards her neck. Temari cringes internally and wonders what she had been expecting; a radical change in actions? A different person entirely? "D-d-do you need a-a-any he-hel-help?"

A frustrated frown pulls at the edges of the girl's mouth, but Temari gets the feeling it's not aimed at her; rather, it's aimed at herself.

"No," Temari replies, takes a seat next to the girl, and watches as the girl's muscles briefly tense up—as if waiting for an attack (good girl, Temari smirks inwardly)—then relaxes. The girl, Temari notes with approval, doesn't make any other outwards signs that she's uncomfortable, which means she isn't _quite_ as lost a cause as she'd originally thought. "Just wondering why you stutter so much."

Perhaps it's too blunt—she notes the brief tightening of the lips, the minute furrow of the eyebrow—but it's how she operates. It's either be blunt, get the answers, or you're lost forever. People's reactions to being asked blunt questions are usually always the most insightful into their characters.

And Temari's surprised that the girl with the lilac eyes and trembling aura _does_ have some spark left in her after all.

* * *

 _4._

The answer honestly surprises her.

 _Speech impediment._

She'd expected it, obviously, what with the amount of stuttering she's witnessed of the girl on a few separate occasions, but it's still _surprising_. The girl's eyes widen, as if she's surprised by herself—as if she hadn't _meant_ to reply—and her pretty eyes shutter. When they reopen again, there's so much _fear_ in that gaze that, for a moment, Temari is looking—

"I—I—I," the girl splutters, the heat in her cheeks bleeding across her nose, to cover her whole face. She looks down at her hands that are nervously—shakily—twiddling, as if they'll help her with all of her problems. "I-I—I didn't mean—"

"Breathe," Temari instructs. And the girl does just that, while Temari leaves before the girl can say anything else. Maybe the girl will take her word to heart or not—honestly, it doesn't matter to her one bit.

* * *

 _5._

The next time Temari visits Konoha—obviously for the sake of negotiations, of course—she is ambushed by Shikamaru. When he's not paying attention to her, she rolls her eyes heavenward and wonders why this boy—and he's nothing else but a _boy_ ; his dreams and ideals aren't realistic of a shinobi—is bothering her. She's noticed the side glances and the general aura he exudes when in her presence, but he isn't the type she's looking for.

She wants someone who wouldn't hinder her path in the shinobi world, which is someone she pegs him to be. He might want to settle her down to be a housewife, which she has absolutely _no_ intention of doing.

"What do you want?" she asks by way of greeting.

It's a testament to how much he's followed/stalked her that he isn't fazed by her bluntness, and only replies with, "I just wanted so say hello."

She can't deal with this—this weird boy who is so obviously _besotted_ with her that it's disgusting. So she does the only thing she _can_ do at this point. "You've said hello," she points out, unnecessarily, then continues with, "so I'll have to say goodbye."

Temari turns around and walks away from the boy, who seems to have not been able to comprehend the fact that she just turned him down (but she doesn't care—he can have his little existential crisis while she's not there) and notices the girl she met before, sitting at the same bench with the same expression on her face.

* * *

 _6._

Temari has to wonder who the girl is looking at all the time to cause the blush that's so prominent on her face. It's not that she cares; she's just curious. So instead of asking the girl outright, since that would cause more problems than solving them, she looks in the direction the girl is looking, and finds to her surprise the blonde boy that had kicked some sense into her younger brother.

Does—does the girl have a small _crush_ on the boy?

* * *

 _7._

She sits down next to the girl, startling her. She ignores this reaction; she's quite used to it, actually. If the girl hadn't had that reaction, maybe Temari would think the girl was being impersonated. Sitting there silently and listening to the sounds around her, she doesn't feel the need to fill the silence, but she does so anyway.

"So you like him, huh?" she asks. The girl, startled, turns towards her, her face blooming red in response. She tries to stutter out an apology and a dismissal/refusal, but Temari just shrugs back at her, completely unfazed. The girl will have to accept it eventually. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"B-b-but fath-th-ther—"

Temari scowls. "You're a kunoichi, correct?"

"Y-yes, b-bu—"

"You're of legal age, correct?"

"Y-yes—"

"Which means the old bugger has no say in it," Temari replies, almost fiercely. "You can like whoever you damn well please, and it won't be any of his business."

"I-I'm the c-cl-clan heiress, th-though," the girl murmurs quietly.

Temari shrugs. "Who cares? Does _everyone_ in your clan interbreed? Does _everyone_ in your clan have to make favourable choices? You should be able to like someone, no matter anyone's opinion."

* * *

 _8._

"I-I-I'm af-af-rai-raid t-to-t-t—" the girl shudders, a gasp ripping through her—it's a sound Temari's familiar with, of fear and loathing and not being able to _breathe_ , so she scoots closer to the dark blue haired girl and wraps an arm around her shoulders. It causes the other girl to tense and look at her with large, frightened eyes.

Temari hopes she looks a _little_ bit reassuring to her, when she smiles—more like smirks—back at her. "Breathe," she instructs.

The girl takes in a deep breath, exhales, inhales, then exhales, shuddering all the while. She closes her eyes. The blonde wonders at the trust that's been displayed before her and at how long the girl's lashes really are. They're quite beautiful and suit her rounded, cherubic face.

"I'm afraid to-to t-tell him," the girl tells her, in stilting Japanese, but it's a far cry from what she had sounded like, just moments before, that Temari gives the girl a gentle squeeze at her bicep, then pulls her arm away completely, laying it on the bench behind the girl's head, instead of around her shoulders. Her eyes open and she turns her head a bit to look at Temari, with a tiny, almost miniscule smile on her face. "Thank you."

Temari shrugs and looks over to—Narto? Natto? Naruto—?—the boy the girl has been looking at all this time. He's got a few shadow clones surrounding him, a girl with pink hair off to the side and a man with grey hair standing next to her, overseeing the training. She supposes she can see the appeal, what with the scratch marks on his cheeks, his short blonde hair, and that cocky little smile, but he's just a bit too… _short_.

"You should tell him sometime. You never know if—"

For the first time since she's met the other girl, the other girl interrupts her, with a shout of: "He won't!" Honestly, that outburst makes her startle and whip her head to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What makes you say that?"

"He—he l-likes Sak-Sakura-chan," she whispers. She nods her head over to the pink haired girl (who seems to be wholly uninterested in the proceedings) standing next to, what Temari assumes to be, their Jounin Sensei. "He doesn't have… have time for me."

"You should _make_ him have time for you," Temari declares and stands up, adjusting her forehead protector. She gazes down at her with narrowed eyebrows. "If you don't, he won't."

She leaves, only faintly cursing herself when she realises she _still_ hasn't found out the name of the shy girl she's been visiting— _happening upon_ —for a while. She'll ask next time. It's only polite…

* * *

 _9._

This time, when she visits the bench again, there's no girl. She furrows her brows and looks over to the training ground—seven?—that the girl usually looks over to, and sees the usual three people sparring and training over there. So, either the girl has gotten over her crush (which doesn't seem the case) or she's avoiding her. Neither option really fills her with happiness, even _if_ the girl is an (involuntary) stuttering mess.

She scowls, folding her arms, while she stares at the bench blankly. She doesn't know if she's genuinely worried about the girl, or if she's just plain curious. She's never been able to sort her emotions out properly—which is why she comes off as a "frigid bitch" (as Kankuro likes to call her).

She cracks her neck, grunts, turns around and marches towards the three people at the training ground. They'll tell her where she is, whether they want to or not. When she gets there, she's only greeted by the blonde-haired boy (who's watching her with a dopey look on his face) and the grey-haired man (who is reading Icha Icha Paradise). The pink-haired girl is punching the ground with a look of concentration on her face. Why she was punching the ground when there were plenty other targets (like the trees and her teammates) around her, was beyond Temari. But she really has no place to judge.

"Where's the girl?" she demands. She shifts her weight so one hip is popped out. The blonde looks at her blankly while the man continues to read his porn book. She jerks her thumb at the bench behind her. "The girl. The one that sits there and watches you every day? Where is she?"

The blonde continues to stare at her with mounting bewilderment. "What girl?"

"Don't tell me you didn't know she was watching." At the odd look on the boy's face, she realises that yes, they hadn't even known. How he _doesn't_ know is a complete and utter mystery, because it wasn't as if the girl was hiding her presence. On the contrary, her chakra was basically _singing_ to Temari. "Right, well. If you didn't know she was watching, can you at least tell me where I can find a girl—around my age, I'm guessing?—that has long blue hair, and lilac—" at the incomprehension on the boy's face, she amends with, " _purple_ eyes?"

"Oh!" the boy exclaims, clashing his fist into his palm. "That's Hinata-chan! Yeah, you can find her at the—the—her house…" he finishes off slowly, furrowing his brows.

In other words, he has no idea where she even lives.

Fantastic.

* * *

 _10._

The Hyuuga compound is intimidating. That's the only word Temari can use to describe what she sees when she gets there. The walls are large, nearly as tall as the Hokage Tower. She doesn't know how effective it is with the enemies of Konoha, so she doesn't have much of an opinion of it other than intimidating.

Of course, there's also a couple of Hyuuga standing at the entrance to it, so that may have been part of it, as well. She adjusts her fan's container at her back, feeling slightly out of place.

Considering she's in a different village, she supposes she has every right to feel this way.

She walks up to them and turns to the one on the right, who seems to be the most alert one on guard duty. She growls inwardly at the one nearly asleep on his feet. Doesn't he take security seriously? If this is a clan building—which she's guessing it is, considering the girl, Hinata, had once called herself a heiress—then that means whoever this clean is and whatever they deal with, they'd be highly sought after for all the wrong reasons.

An alert guard on duty could mean life or death for certain people involved.

"I'm here for Hinata," she tells him bluntly. He looks back at her coolly, his eyes slowly blinking back at her.

"Hinata-sama is unavailable at the moment."

"Is she alright?"

"Hinata-sama is sick, therefore unavailable at the moment."

"Can I go in to see her?"

"No. Hiashi-sama requested that no one see Hinata-sama."

She raises her eyebrow at him, but nods, knowing when to quit and when to push. The Hyuuga are obviously loyal to their clan heads, and since the clan head himself had requested it, no one's going to disobey his orders.

* * *

 _11._

"Feeling better, Hinata?" Temari asks once she sees the girl again. The girl looks over at her, both of her eyebrows raised, her eyes wide. There's no body flinch from the girl, this time, which means she's slowly starting to get used to Temari's presence. Well, she should; this the first time she's ever thought of someone else as a friend since, well… since she was younger, when the world was a whole lot easier to understand. It's tentative, this bond Temari's slowly forming towards the girl, but at least it's something.

Hinata's worth it.

"Y-y-ye-e-es," Hinata replies and looks down slightly. "I-I feel ba-ad th-that you-you kn-know my name b-bu-t-t-t I don-don't know your-yours."

"It's Temari. Don't worry; I didn't know your name either, until I asked around for it," she admits, smirking a bit. "I guess this is when I tell you I consider you my friend. I don't know the exact protocol, but," she shrugs, "at least there's that."

Hinata does the most surprising thing the girl has done since Temari's known her, bar that one time the girl hadn't stumbled over her words: she smiles. It's not a tiny, insignificant little thing that if you blinked you'd miss it. It's one of those full, blinding smiles that show off teeth, and makes the whole face shine with it. It's so remarkable that Temari just sits there and stares at her for a while, because that smile _suits_ the girl more than the downtrodden look ever can.

She wants to see Hinata with those smiles more. It's absurd, the way Temari's letting this girl enter her thoughts and wiggle in her life, but she doesn't regret it, really.

"I—I con-consider you a-a fr-friend too," Hinata says shyly and looks down, twiddling her thumbs. "Oth-other than Sh-Shino-kun and Ki-Kiba-kun, I haven't—I—"

Temari interrupts, shrugging. "It's fine."

* * *

12.

It's a surprise that when Temari sees Hinata next, she's handed a branch of cherry blossom. Pleased, yet bemused, she stares back and forth between the two, finally settling on giving Hinata a slight frown. "What's this for?"

"I-I no-noticed you pai-paid atten-atten-atten-attention to the t-t-trees we h-have here," the girl explained. Nodding along, still feeling confused, she continues to stare at the girl who seems to be getting nervous by the second. "I-I th-thought y-you m-m-might l-l-like th-this."

"We don't have them in Suna," Temari admits, twisting the branch around in her hand, gazing at it slightly wistfully. "All we have are cacti. They get boring to look at after a while." She sighs. "Thank you, Hinata."

"You-you're we-wel-welcome."

* * *

 _13._

Four more visits to Hinata in Konoha, and Temari finally understands the small, tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach, every time she comes to visit. At the start, she may have only had a slight interest—and curiosity—in the girl, but now that she's starting to actually know her, and she's starting to get feelings… feelings she might not be able to divulge. They're fragile and new, the first time she's ever felt this way, but she _knows_ what these feelings mean. She can't tell Hinata about them. The girl's already so fragile already, she doesn't think Hinata could handle anything more.

* * *

 _14._

Apparently, while she's been thinking about her feelings, she's been using the time to avoid the girl every time she visits Konoha. At first, there was always an excuse on hand for why she never saw Hinata—too busy with going back and forth between the two villages, training, eating, showering, sleeping—but now it's like she's actively avoiding her.

Something Temari thought would _never_ be something she'd ever do, but over the course of a month… she's realised she's been doing this for quite a while.

She startles slightly when she feels two chakra signatures coming up from behind her. She whips out her fan, ready to deflect any shuriken or kunai headed her way, only to find two males and a large dog boxing her in the forest patch she's found herself in. Calming herself down, she raises a sardonic eyebrow at them.

"Yes?"

"You're Temari," the one with the red tattoos on his face growls at her, showing off his canine teeth. She's not impressed by this display of feral masculinity. She's been around Gaara too much to feel any fear from him.

"Yes, I am. What's it to you, dog-breath?" She only says this on a slight hunch for an insult, what with the huge dog right next to him, and mentally pats herself on the back when he visibly bristles. The male beside him merely pushes his sunglasses up.

"You're making Hinata cry," the boy snarls and Temari freezes, scrunching up her eyebrows, frowning slightly. Really? But she—oh. She's been avoiding Hinata and she hasn't _said anything_. No wonder the girl's crying.

She changes her frown into a scowl, glaring at him. "I hadn't meant to. I only just realised today."

"Whatever. Just go apologise."

* * *

 _15._

She spies Hinata on the bench, wiping at her eyes as she watches the blonde spar on the training grounds. She almost hesitates, a small part of her brain telling her to turn around and walk away. Instead, she swallows her fear and pride and stalks towards the girl. Taking a deep breath once she's got the girl's attention, she says slowly, "I'm sorry Hinata. I didn't realise."

"It-it's-it's o-o-okay," Hinata sniffs, looking down at her lap. "I-I—I ju-jus-just-just thought you-you—"

"I didn't get tired of you, if that's what you're thinking." The silence on the girl's end says it all and she sighs, moving so she's right in front of Hinata. She hesitates, wondering what to do. She doesn't know how to approach this, so she might as well just come out with it as bluntly as possible. Sure, it's going to break her heart if she's rejected, but… well, you never know, you know? "Look, Hinata. I…" she sighs and strokes the girl's cheek, waiting for some kind of response. She receives none. "I… I like you."

"We-well at-at l-least y-you l-l-li-like m-me st-st-still."

Temari rolls her eyes inwardly. Alright, she's going to have to do something she'd never thought she'd do—touching someone intimately without their consent. She tilts the girl's head up, leans forward, and kisses the girl chastely on the lips. The girl's frozen, a little bit of red dusting appearing on her cheeks. She moves her head back slightly, dropping her hand. "I'm sorry if that made you—uncomfortable—"

"N-no, it-it's al-alright," the girl murmurs, leans forward and wraps her arms around Temari's waist. "I—I li-liked i-it."

Temari smiles, relieved.

* * *

 _Epilogue—five years later_

"I'll take kenchin soup," Temari orders, her elbow on the table's surface, glaring at the waiter, just daring him to say something about her poor etiquette and her companion. She squeezes the hand that's curled in hers. "And my girlfriend—" she ignores the look the waiter shoots her (looking her up and down with a disapproving frown) and continues to order, "—will take red bean soup."

They both watch the waiter as he leaves, muttering about them ruining their store's reputation under his breath. She looks over to Hinata, smiling at her. They've been together for five years—not all of it was happy, since she had to go through a long and tedious introduction to Hinata's family, to try to prove to them that she was good for Hinata (she's still not sure on that count)—and Temari hasn't regretted it since.

Hinata's been improving with her speech impediment by leaps and bounds, but of course, something like that doesn't just disappear overnight, so it _does_ come back in fits and bursts, when she's excited or shy or sad. Whenever it happens, Temari just… tries to be there.

"I haven't been here in a long time," Hinata admits softly from beside her.

"Probably because most of the people here are assholes," Temari replies bluntly. Hinata rolls her eyes at her, a small twitch to her lips appearing.

"Don't say that," she scolds, mock-glaring at her. "Some of them are nice."

"Not enough."

The food arrives, silencing them for a moment. While they eat, they talk about what they'll eat tonight, when Neji will come visit with TenTen, when Gaara will visit, how long before their next mission—normal, everyday stuff. Even the topic of the weather crops up once or twice.

When they're all done—and Hinata uses a napkin to wipe Temari's mouth—Temari helps Hinata to her feet and walks outside of the restaurant after paying for their meals. Really, it was a very nice dish, but it's not as good as Hinata makes it.

"Happy fifth anniversary," Temari murmurs as they walk. Hinata smiles, squeezing her hand back.

"Happy fifth anniversary to you, too," she replies. They smile at each other and continue to walk, chatting all the while. "I love you."

"I love you too."


End file.
